iPhone XR revealed – what is it?

Despite being a more budget model, it's got many high-end features – including the swanky all-screen design introduced with last year's iPhone X.

That means it also boasts Face ID facial recognition, just like the pricier iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max.

One of the biggest compromises is that it doesn't get the ritzy OLED screen its siblings have.

It also misses out on a premium stainless frame – instead, it's got cheaper aluminium edging.

iPhone XR specs and features – all the details

The iPhone XR has a large, notched 6.1-inch screen, with a very respectable 1792 x 828-pixel resolution.

That works out at 326 pixels per inch on your screen.

The phone is rated IP67 for water and dust protection, which means it's waterproof to depths of 1.5 metres – rather than the 3-metre depth the iPhone XS is rated to survive at.

It comes in six colours, and will be offered in three storage sizes (64GB, 128GB and 256GB).

We check out Apple's 'cheap' new iPhone XR smartphone

Excitingly, the iPhone XR features Apple's new A12 Bionic processor, which is the same chip inside the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max.

The chip promises to be 50% faster than last year's iPhone processor, which is a pretty sizeable jump.

This is possible because Apple has built its new chip on a "7nm manufacturing process" – which means the transistors on the chip are just 7 nanometres apart.

Transistors are tiny electronic switches that allow computing to happen. The more transistors, the more computing you can get done.

For last year's A11 processor, the transistors were 10 nanometres apart – but this distance has been reduced to 7 nanometres. That means Apple is able to squeeze more transistors into the same amount of space, boosting computing power and energy efficiency.

Apple Gadgets 2018 – the key release dates

Apple has made some announcements – here's when to mark your calendar...

iPhone XS pre-order date – September 14

iPhone XS release date – September 21

iPhone XS Max pre-order date – September 14

iPhone XS Max release date – September 21

iPhone XR pre-order date – October 19

iPhone XR release date – October 26

Apple Watch 4 pre-order date – September 14

Apple Watch 4 release date – September 21

iPhone XR camera – what's the snapper like?

One of the big downsides to the iPhone XR is that it doesn't come equipped with the iPhone XS camera.

Rather than a dual-camera set-up on the rear, you get just a single shooter on the back.

It's a 12-megapixel wide-angle camera – the same one that makes up half of the iPhone XS's shooter.

The good news is that it can still provide the "bokeh" blurred background effect the iPhone XS offers with its Portrait Mode, although it requires some camera trickery to achieve this.